From our 2019 cohort
Nilesh Chatterjee
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Nilesh Chatterjee nc548@cam.ac.uk India Department of Pharmacology, Christ's College PhD thesis: Nucleic Acid Scaffold-dependent Proximity-mediated Enzyme Response (NASPER) - A Proof of Concept Study Research interests
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PhD Project
My PhD project involves the development of an original, novel, non-editing gene therapy that will initially be applied to broad spectrum cancer gene therapy. In brief, host gene expression will drive the activation of an exogenous, cytotoxic gene with the end goal of specific and sensitive targeted ablation of cancer cells without the need to modify the host genome. In addition to this project, I may be carrying out side-projects in the in vivo delivery of this novel gene therapy, novel methods of producing biologics in order to lower extortionately high drug costs, and application of gene therapy techniques to plant cells to create novel ways of tackling global warming.
Who or what inspired you to pursue your research interests?
Well, my will to research is a two-source story. The unsolvability of certain problems and the need to help all living things! As you can tell this leads perfectly to thesis title and research interests. Thus, my current and future research will always try to address problems such as disease, death, the disparity in pharmaceutical access for the rich and poor, global warming, the extinction of biodiversity, overpopulation etc, in order to help people and the planet alike.
Brigid Ehrmantraut
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Brigid Ehrmantraut bke22@cam.ac.uk USA Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, Wolfson College PhD thesis: Interpretatio Hiberniana: Classical Influences in Medieval Irish Depictions of Otherworldly Characters Research interests
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PhD Project
Throughout the eleventh and twelfth centuries, multiple Classical texts were adapted and translated into medieval Irish. These
adaptations are more than word-for-word translations, and often feature reorganized or additional material drawn from multiple
sources. I am particularly interested in how Irish adaptations translate words for divine and supernatural beings, and where such terms
appear in other vernacular works from the same period. Roman attempts to translate other culture’s gods into their own mythological
equivalents are traditionally known as interpretatio Romana. My dissertation will question whether a sort of literary interpretatio
Hiberniana took place in medieval Ireland. I will examine the degree to which Irish authors looked to Classical texts to inform their
depictions of their own Otherworldy characters and pre-Christian past, as well as what their native tradition might have contributed to
their translation of Classical beings. Ultimately, I aim to elucidate the intellectual milieu of eleventh- and twelfth-century Ireland.
Plans for the future
I will be starting a four-year Junior Research Fellowship at St John’s College, Cambridge in October 2023. During my Fellowship, I will continue my study of medieval Irish Classical reception into the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, examining the development of the cath (‘battle’) genre of tales. These compositions drew heavily on Classical literature as well as on the earlier vernacular Irish adaptations of Classical epic produced during the tenth through twelfth centuries, which I investigated in my PhD thesis. They were also informed by wider trends in medieval European literature including Crusade narratives, vernacular romance, and translations of Classical literature into other European languages. Additionally, I am in the process of publishing my PhD research.
Animesh Jain
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Animesh Jain aj584@cam.ac.uk India Department of Engineering, Clare Hall PhD thesis: Indirect Noise in Non-Isentropic Flows Research interests |
During his PhD, Animesh studied one of the most intractable and persistent challenges in rocket and aircraft-engine development with a completely new approach: Prediction and control of thermoacoustic instability by exploiting symmetries.
Air transportation is anticipated to double over the next couple of decades, which calls for novel methods to cut back on up to 80% in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and up to 50% in noise, as set by the Advisory Council for Aerospace Research. To develop new clean aircraft engines, gas turbines are designed to burn in a lean regime to reduce NOx emissions. The downside is that lean flames burn very unsteadily because they are sensitive to the turbulent environment of the combustion chamber. In this complex multi-physical environment, the sound waves interact with the flame to generate violent thermoacoustic oscillations. These oscillations cause structural damage, fatigue, cracking, resulting in the reduction of the combustor lifetime by a factor of two or more. If not controlled, they can be catastrophic for the engine operability and safety. On the one hand, all of these phenomena are unwanted and have to be eliminated during the design or controlled if they occur. On the other hand, these phenomena are bound to increase as turbines become cleaner. These two contrasting situations make the design of low-emission aircraft engines particularly challenging. Animesh's project proposed a new framework to predict and thermoacoustic oscillations by exploiting the symmetries of the aeroengines combustors, in which the flames are arranged in an annular configuration. The project imported methods from quantum mechanics (such as parity-time symmetries) and group theory into software for optimal design. With a better design, the new aircraft engine will be cleaner, healthier and quieter, keeping the design, repair and replacement costs low.
Following the completion of his PhD, Animesh has begun working as a Desk Quantitative Analyst at the Royal bank of Canada, in London.
Who or what inspired you to pursue your research interests?
I was inspired to pursue my research interests by the idea of sustainable development. I have always aimed to work for pollution reduction. I chose to be vegetarian to reduce my carbon footprint. All my previous projects were also based around the idea of making technologies greener and reducing amount of pollutants. Moreover, fluid dynamics has always intrigued me as it finds application in most of the aspects of our existence for instance fluids flow inside our body, aircraft propulsion etc. Modern fluid dynamics was born in Cambridge (Newton, Rayleigh, Stokes, Lighthill, Taylor, Batchelor, and many many others) and Cambridge leads fluid-dynamics worldwide. I am grateful to Harding Distinguished Scholarship Programme to give me an opportunity to work in the best available intellectual environment towards my aim of contributing as much as I can in making technologies greener.
Timothy Welsh
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Timothy Welsh tjw86@cam.ac.uk USA Department of Chemistry, St Catharine's College PhD thesis: Investigation into the molecular details of biomolecular liquid-liquid phase separation Research interests
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PhD Project
Timothy's PhD focused on investigating the physical principles that dictate the ability for proteins to form highly dynamic assemblies within cells, known as liquid condensates. These condensates form when proteins cluster together yet remain in a fluid state where they can rapidly move around and be exchanged with their surrounding environment. This phenomenon has emerged as a widely spread means of subcellular organisation that is responsible for regulating many processes and has been implicated in causing neurodegenerative disease when the process is altered. Through his research, he aimed to better understand the molecular detail of these phase separation events so that we may combat the diseases that thy induce, and so that we may be able to engineer these processes for medicinal benefit.
Timothy's work has resulted in over a dozen publications in leading journals such as Nature Communications and PNAS, as well as contributing science to the formation of two spin out companies from the university.
Plans for the future
After graduation, I am working on the commercialization of some research I began towards the end of my PhD and am going to be leading the scientific development team at an early-stage biotechnology company in Cambridge with the goal of enabling targeted delivery of nucleic acid medicines.